" The human right to science has been guaranteed by international law for over half a century, and plays an important role in the normative and therefore legal structure of science. However, it remains little-known among practitioners and academics alike. Following recent recommendations by international organizations, the right to science is in the process of being rediscovered by researchers. In order not to encourage those who see this right as a "free pass" for all scientific practice or, on the contrary, as the remedy for all the ills of scientific innovation, it is important that human rights lawyers develop fundamental research into the remaining gaps in the normative framework of the right to science.
Prof. Samantha Besson, holder of the International Law of Institutions Chair, has received four years' funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (or SNSF) to tackle the most important of these : that concerning the institutional dimension of the human right to science. The project is funding the research of a doctoral student at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and a post-doctoral student affiliated to the University of Fribourg and the Collège de France. "
